Album Review: Cool Nutz

Portland Ni%#a (Suburban Noize)

[HIP-HOP] Terrance “Cool Nutz” Scott has
been called “the ambassador of Portland hip-hop” for so long it’s easy
to forget he’s not a self-appointed diplomat but a tough MC who earned
that title. Portland Ni%#a, Scott’s seventh album, is a potent
reminder of Nutz the artist, even though he takes the same workmanlike
approach to his music as he does his ventures outside the studio. As a
rapper, Nutz is decidedly blue-collar. There’s nothing showy about his
rhymes, and his deep, buttery flow is almost entirely affectless, to the
point he often sounds more like a community organizer addressing the
city council than any sort of microphone assassin. He commands with his
directness, and the unfussy production—from Lawz Spoken, Bosko, Trox and
others—bolsters his no-bullshit style. Lyrically, Nutz covers a lot of
ground, from sex and relationships (“She Wants to Love Me”) to
denomination-neutral faith (“Know God”) to gun violence (“Affiliation”),
all from the perspective of a veteran not afraid to act, and actively
document, his age. “I’m the past and the future of it/ At 30-plus and
these haters still gotta love it,” he declares on the title track. And
then there’s his underappreciated absurdity: He disses an unnamed
compatriot by comparing him to “the seeds of the cantaloupe” and brags
he’ll “breastfeed the kids” like he “got a titty.” Who’d even think to
say that? Only Cool Nutz, that’s who.